Death warrant issued against Bangabandhu killer Majed

Published : Thursday, 9 April, 2020 at 12:00 AM Count : 220

Court Correspondent

A Dhaka Court on Wednesday issued death warrant against Captain (dismissed) Abdul Majed, a death-row convict in Bangabandhu murder case.Judge Md Helal Uddin Chowdhury of District and Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after the prosecution submitted a prayer to issue the death warrant against him, said Dhaka Metropolitan Public prosecutor Advocate Abdullah Abu. Earlier he was shown arrested in the Bangabandhu murder case.After issuing the death warrant PP Abdullah Abu told this correspondent that all barriers were lifted to execute the death of the convict Majed. Within 21 to 28 days the death sentence will be executed. In 1998 the then Judge Kazi Golam Rasul of Dhaka District and Session's Judge Court sentenced 15 persons, including dismissed captain Majed, to death.Self confessed convict Majed had been absconding since the case was filed in 1996. At 2 pm, police produced him before the court on Wednesday. No lawyer stood for him in the court. Later, the judge read out the major portion of the judgment in the case and issued the death warrant. After passing the order, the court sent Majed to the condemned cell of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj. On Monday night, a team from Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police arrested Majed under section 54 of the Code of Criminal procedure (Cr. Pc.) from Dhaka's Mirpur area.Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate AM Zulfikar Hayat sent him to jail on Tuesday as the prosecution prayed to the court to put him in jail. On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court upheld a High Court verdict that awarded capital punishment to 12 killers for killing Bangabandhu and most of his family members in a coup d'état on August 15, 1975.Five of the killers are still at large. They are Col (dismissed) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haque Dalim, Maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, Maj (retd) Rashed Chowdhury, and Risaldar Moslehuddin Khan.Although all the courts across the country have been declared closed till April 14 due to the outbreak of coronavirus, District and Session's Judge Md Helal Chowdhury, as per the instruction of the Supreme Court, opened his court on Wednesday only to hear the petition.Meanwhile, Majed submitted a mercy petition on Wednesday to the President through the jail authorities.BackgroundIn 1975 on August 15, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and almost all his family members were assassinated. The trial of the murder had frequently been obstructed by some vested quarters. After killing Bangabandhu, an indemnity ordinance was promulgated. After 21 years the Awami league government came to power and repealed the indemnity ordinance on November 21 in 1996. The same year Bangabandhu's Personal Secretary Mohitul Islam filed a murder case with Dhanmondi Police Station on October 2.In 1998 the then Judge Kazi Golam Rasul of Dhaka District and Session's Judge Court sentenced 15 persons, including dismissed captain Majed, to death. A High Court Division on December 14 in 2000 delivered a split judgment. A third bench of the High Court on April 30 in 2001 upheld the death sentences of the 12 accused. and acquitted three.An Appellate Division Judge led by Justice Tofazzal Islam on November 19 in 2009 turned down the leave-to-appeal of the five death-row convicts and upheld the death sentences of the 12 accused. At dawn of January 27 in 2010, condemned convicts Syed Faruk Rahman, Bazlul Huda, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Sultan Shahriar Rashuid Khan and Mohiuddin Ahmed were executed. Before the execution of the judgment the death-row convict Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe in 2002.